By RJ Walters, Editor
It’s never too early for people to think about how they can create peace and sustainability on Earth in the New Year, especially with the ninth annual Keep Making Peace Day just two months away.
The Boards of Church and Society, United Methodist Women of the Michigan Area and the Lansing Shalom Center are hosting the event at Lansing Central UMC from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.
The theme of “God’s Renewed Creation: Hope and Action” will be highlighted by keynote speaker Bishop Don Ott and several other nationally known figures.
Ott, who served as the Michigan Area Bishop from 1992-2000, will speak on The Bishops' Pastoral Letter (available at www.hopeandaction.org) that he was part of creating with the Council of Bishops in 2009, with a hope to convey to people “that faith matters and faith and action go together.”
The letter lists nine pledges UMC bishops deemed vital as the church focuses on fighting what Ott simplifies down to “peace, poverty and the planet”.
“In Michigan those three are constantly in the news, whether we are conscious of it that way or not,” he said.
He said disturbances of peace can be found in stories relating to gun violence and gun laws, political harassment and acts against others and labor management disputes; fighting poverty is a constant battle with unemployment rates among the highest in the country; and caring for the planet involves ongoing struggles with everything from the Great Lakes to streams, forests and more in Michigan, in Ott’s opinion.
“I want people as a result of the event, from what I say and what other speakers say, to leave that weekend committed to action,” he said. “In order to do that, at this point, in the Bishop’s (Pastoral Letter) there is a nine-point commitment the bishop’s made to take actions. I’ve decided I’m going to announce my personal action plan for the nine commitments at that event.”
He said an example of his personal action plan is a proposition he is going to make from his seat on the public works commission in the city of Pewaukee, Wisc.
“I’m going to raise my commitment to get the citizens of Pewaulkee to cut down their lawn watering.
Like in most communities, we spend tons of money making our water safe for drinking and we put about one-third of all of that processed water on our lawns at a terrible expense,” he said. “I think it’s an ecological issue and an environmental one and financial one, so that’s one of my nine points.”
Also presenting on April 9 will be Lana Pollack, who was nominated the Chair of the U.S. Section of the International Joint Commission between the U.S. and Canada by President Obama in 2010.
She will share her thoughts on the health of the Great Lakes and the steps needed to be good stewards of the Great Lakes in the face of an environmental degradation crisis in the state.
Pat Callbeck Harper, the Project Manager of the United Methodist Council of Bishops will also speak.
She served for eight years on the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries as the Chair of Christian Social Relations.
The cost to attend the event is $25 per family and $15 per individual or $20/$10 if registered by March 15.
The cost includes a locally grown organic lunch, rain barrels, tree seedlings for sale, and a live worm box.
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